The Georgian government has opened to the public, for the first time in Tbilisi, an internal warehouse formerly owned by Joseph Stalin, containing approximately 40,000 rare French and Georgian wines. Some of the bottles are planned to be put up for auction.
This was reported by "Reuters".
The collection is stored in a dimly lit basement, and some of the bottles date back to the early 19th century. The proceeds from the auction are planned to be directed towards the establishment of a winemaking school in Georgia.
The project was developed by Irakli Gilauri, owner of the "Gilauri Wines" company, in collaboration with the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture.
It is known that Joseph Stalin, born in Georgia and who led the USSR from 1924 to 1953, was an enthusiast and collector of wine. The collection also includes wines made from famous vineyards in the Bordeaux region of France, as well as wines that belonged to Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his father Alexander III.
After the 1917 revolution, the Soviet government confiscated the imperial collection of the Romanovs, and Stalin became the guardian of this collection, adding Georgian wines to it as well./oxu.az